Colombo Marathon to attract more than 3000 participants

Thushan JAYASURIYA

The 12th Colombo Marathon organized by Lanka Sportreizen (LSR) will be held on October 7.

The event will be held under six categories including full marathon,half marathon, over 50 veterans full marathon, over 50 veterans half marathon, 10km fun run and 5 km fun run. The 12th LSR Colombo Marathon is scheduled to be flagged off at 6.15 am. Before participating to the event, all the candidates except the participants for the fun run, must go through a Medical test prior to the event. The race will start near BMICH and will end at Negombo beach park.

The winner of the event will receive a cash prize worth USD 12,500 and the other winners will receive free air tickets from SriLankan Airlines .

LSR Chairman Thilak Weerasinghe mentioned that this is a good opportunity for the local players who are enthusiastic in Marathon sport. Last year, about 2600 runners including 97 foreigners from 27 countries participated and this time LSR is expecting more than 3000 participants in all categories of races with at least 200 foreigners.

Apart from that he said " We are very much optimistic of the future of this event although the foreign participation is still at low levels. We consider this not only as a sporting event but also as a tourism event. We are confident that we could position is as one of the best among the City Marathons in the Region."

Ministry of Sports, Athletic Association of Sri Lanka, Western Province Tourist Board, Western Provincial Council with the relevant Pradeshiya Sabhas and the Negombo Municipal Council, Sri Lanka Police, Ministry of Youth Affairs, Ministry of Education, Associated newspapers of Ceylon Ltd, SLRC, ITN, SLBC, Negombo Hoteliers Association together with the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau and the Sri Lankan Airlines have joined hands with Lanka Sportreizen to organize this event.